by Kris Butler Here's How To Photograph Waterfalls
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Waterfalls and white water cascades are among the most inspiring spectacles in nature, which makes them an ever popular subject of photography. There is something about the motion and sound of the water, the mist and the wet sheen on the rocks that's soothing and hypnotic.
There are many artistic angles you can take to capture the spirit of a waterfalls and cascades. One of the most fun is to take prolonged exposures to enhance the appearance of white water. By using your bulb mode or time settings, you can increase the veil-like white highlights. This lets you achieve a result that is not only more realistic, but also more fantastical.
Consider for a moment that the human brain cannot really perceive how the ever-changing scene looks at the particular split second level of a regular shutter speed. Rather, we perceive how it appears and changes over the course of whole seconds. Therefore, by taking a longer exposure and increasing the appearance of white water you are making a more realistic picture.
On the other hand, bulb exposures of any moving subject, and perhaps especially waterfalls and cascades, have an inherently unreal element to them precisely because we could never really perceive these subjects the same way on our own. Waterfalls are a particularly interesting case, however, because when nothing else is moving in the field of view during your exposure, it takes a moment for your audience to notice something is different.
The emphasized white water highlights they see serve to bring out the soothing, hypnotic and generally positive feelings associated with waterfalls. This is achieved in a way that your audience may eventually understand is not real, but that they will nevertheless appreciate. So, by making you waterfall shot somewhat of a fantasy, you are actually making the positive reality associated with the waterfall more immediate for your audience.
